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Vice President Kashim Shettima has paid a heartfelt tribute to two illustrious elder statesmen from Katsina State, Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi, former Executive Secretary of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO), and Ambassador Ibrahim Zakari, ex-Director General of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), who passed away recently at 93 and 81 respectively.
In a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima described the late elder statesmen as the last of the great titans to have emerged from their time.
Speaking on Saturday during his visit to the Kurfi family residence in Katsina, Vice President Shettima said: “We’re here at the behest of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to convey our condolence to the family, government and people of Katsina State over the sad demise of our elder statesman, late Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi (Maradin Katsina).”
Reflecting on Kurfi’s passing, the VP noted solemnly: “He is the last of the great titans. In African folktale, when such an elderly person dies, a part of history goes.”
He prayed a peaceful response for the deceased: “May Allah grant his soul eternal rest and reward him with Aljannah Firdaus. May Allah also grant the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”
During his subsequent visit to the family of Ambassador Zakari, VP Shettima reiterated: “We are here on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to offer our condolences to the family, to Katsina Emirate Council, the government and people of Katsina State over the sad demise of our elder statesman, Ambassador Ibrahim Zakari (Talban Katsina).
“It’s a huge loss but he lived an eventful life worthy of emulation by all of us. It’s actually a celebration of life and not the celebration of death,” the Vice President added.
“If anyone of us here would have a worthy life as his own, it’s something that we’re all craving for. May Allah grant his soul eternal rest and reward him with Aljannah Firdaus. And may Allah grant the family, the people and government of Katsina and by extension, the nation the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss,” VP Shettima said.
The Vice President praised both deceased elder statesmen for their significant contributions to Nigeria’s development – Kurfi in electoral administration during the Second Republic, and Zakari in diplomacy and national security as the former head of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency.